Who's cheating whom in college writing instruction? This book argues that through binary privileging of the "real" author (the inspired, autonomous genius) over the transgressive writer (the collaborator or the plagiarist), composition pedagogy deprives students of important opportunities to join in scholarly discourse and assume authorial roles. From Plato's paradoxical dependence on and rejection of Homer, to Jerome McGann's dismissal of copyright as the "hand of the dead," Standing in the Shadow of Giants surveys changes and conflicts in Western theories of authorship. From this survey emerges an account of how and why plagiarism became important to academic culture; how and why current pedagogical representations of plagiarism contradict contemporary theory of authorship; why the natural, necessary textual strategy of patchwriting is mis-classified as academic dishonesty; and how teachers might craft pedagogy that authorizes student writing instead of criminalizing it.

Who's cheating whom in college writing instruction? This book argues that through binary privileging of the real author (the inspired, autonomous genius) over the transgressive writer (the collaborator or the plagiarist), composition pedagogy deprives students of important opportunities to join in scholarly discourse and assume authorial roles. From Plato's paradoxical dependence on and rejection of Homer, to Jerome McGann's dismissal of copyright as the hand of the dead, Standing in the Shadow of Giants surveys changes and conflicts in Western theories of authorship. From this survey emerges an account of how and why plagiarism became important to academic culture; how and why current pedagogical representations of plagiarism contradict contemporary theory of authorship; why the natural, necessary textual strategy of patchwriting is mis-classified as academic dishonesty; and how teachers might craft pedagogy that authorizes student writing instead of criminalizing it.

Powered by Connect Composition 2.0, WRITING MATTERS helps students own their ideas and put responsible writing into practice. Through a focus on student responsibilities to other writers, to the topic, to the audience, and to themselves, the program helps students better understand reasoning, researching, documentation, grammar, and style.
WRITING MATTERS eBook. The CONNECT COMPOSITION PLUS 2.0 eBook provides Writing Matters content in a digital format that is accessible from within Connect and Blackboard. In support of the engaged learning experience, students can link directly to activities and assignments within CONNECT from the eBook. Students can have all the resources from Writing Matters right on their desktops
NOTE: There are two Connect Composition Plus available for Writing Matters. One for the Comprehensive edition and one for the Tabbed edition.
Personal Learning Plan (PLP) Through an intuitive, continually adaptive diagnostic that assesses proficiencies in five core areas of grammar and mechanics, students generate a personalized learning plan tailored to address their needs within the timeframe students determine what they want to study. The personalized program includes contextualized grammar and writing lessons, videos, animations, and interactive exercises and provides immediate feedback on students' work and progress.
Based on metacognitive learning theories, the PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN continually adapts with each interaction, while built-in time management tools keep students on track to ensure they achieve their course goals. The Personal Learning Plan is designed to improve student writing, allow classroom instruction to focus on critical writing processes, and support the goals of writing programs and individual instructors with reports that present data related to progress, achievement, and students who may be at risk.
Writing Matters unites research reasoning, documentation, grammar, and style into a cohesive whole, helping students see the conventions of writing as a framework of responsibilities. The responsibilities writers have...
-to other writers. Writing Matters clarifies the responsibility writers have to one another - whether they are collaborating in an online peer review or drawing on digital and print resources in a research project - to treat information fairly and accurately and to craft writing that is fresh and original - their own.
-to the audience. Writing Matters stresses the importance of using conventions appropriate to the audience, to write clearly, and to provide readers with the information and interpretation they need to make sense of a topic.
-to the topic. Writing Matters emphasizes the writer's responsibility to explore a topic thoroughly and creatively, to assess sources carefully, and to provide reliable information at a depth that does the topic justice.
-to themselves. Writing Matters encourages writers to take their writing seriously and to approach writing tasks as an opportunity to learn about a topic and to expand their scope as writers. Students are more likely to write well when they think of themselves as writers rather than as error-makers.
By explaining rules in the context of responsibility, Writing Matters addresses composition students respectfully as mature and capable fellow participants in the research and writing process.

"Writing Matters" unites research, reasoning, documentation, grammar and style in a cohesive whole, helping students see the conventions of writing as a network of responsibilities writers have... ...to other writers. "Writing Matters" clarifies the responsibility writers have to one another--whether they are collaborating in an online peer review or drawing on digital and print sources in a research project--to treat information fairly and accurately and to craft writing that is fresh and original--their own ...to the audience. "Writing Matters" stresses the importance of using conventions appropriate to the audience, to write clearly, and to provide readers with the information and interpretation they need to make sense of a topic. ...to the topic. "Writing Matters" emphasizes the writer's responsibility to explore a topic thoroughly and creatively, to assess sources carefully, and to provide reliable information at a depth that does the topic justice. ...to themselves. "Writing Matters" encourages writers to take their writing seriously and to approach writing tasks as an opportunity to learn about a topic and to expand their scope as writers. Students are more likely to learn about a topic and to expand their scope as writers. Students are more likely to write well when they think of themselves as writers rather than as error-makers. By explaining rules in the context of responsibility, "Writing Matters" addresses composition students respectfully as mature and capable fellow participants in the research and writing process.

Writing Matters Tabbed "Make it your own " "Writing Matters Tabbed" unites research, reasoning, documentation, grammar, and style into a cohesive whole, helping students see the conventions of writing as a network of responsibilities writers have . . . . . . to other writers."Writing Matters Tabbed" clarifies the responsibility writers have to one another, whether they are collaborating in online peer review or drawing on digital and print sources in a research project, to represent the ideas of other writers fairly and accurately, to give credit to those from whom they have borrowed words or ideas, and to consider and address alternative viewpoints. . . . to the audience."Writing Matters Tabbed" stresses the importance of using conventions appropriate to the audience, to write clearly, and to provide readers with the information and interpretation they need to make sense of a topic. . . . to the topic."Writing Matters Tabbed" emphasizes the writer's responsibility to explore a topic thoroughly and creatively, to assess sources carefully, and to provide reliable information at a depth that does the topic justice. . . . to themselves."Writing Matters Tabbed" encourages writers to take their writing seriously and to approach writing tasks as an opportunity to learn about a topic and to expand their scope as writers. Students are more likely to write well when they think of themselves as writers rather than as error makers. By explaining rules in the context of responsibility, "Writing Matters Tabbed" addresses composition students respectfully as mature and capable fellow participants in the research and writing process.